Authors who reduce ego can increase income

While you may be flattered by a high "cover price" on your book, you may make more money in total if the book has a lower price.

Here are comparisons (rounded off) of an author's monthly income for one independently self-pubbed book:

• January 2011, for a $15.95 paperback: $64
• January 2012, for the $4.99 ebook, discounted to $4.12: $220
• January 2013, for the ebook reduced to $2.99 and discounted to $2.51: $345

Not only did total income increase as the price has been reduced, but sales have increased as the book has gotten older -- which is not the typical pattern for book sales.

For a Lamborghini, high price is a marketing device. For a book, low price is a marketing device.

The low price enables and encourages more people to buy the book, and they apparently recommend the book to others. Maybe a reader will recommend it to a movie producer.

While no author in 21st-century-America can live on $345 per month, if you have 10, 20 or 30 books generating that income, you can think about quitting your day job.


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dollar sign from http://bma-wealth.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-does-dollar-sign-represent.html

Lamborghini Aventador photo from www.lamborghini.com/en/home/